General Question

What's the better choice?

To keep trying to accomplish something for the next 27 hours (with sleep inserted at some point), when you already know you will not be able to accomplish this goal even in that amount of time…or to give up now, and admit defeat, but not waste 27 hours of your life stressing over it?

57 Answers

Perhaps use different language. If you clearly know you cannot achieve your goal in the next 27 hours, then let it go.

Why refer to “giving up” or “admitting defeat”?

If I wanted to, in some fantasy world, write an article that The New Yorker would accept or build a dry wall or lose 10 lbs., why would I set up an artificial and unrealistic time constraint? Who benefits?

@gailcalled…It’s a project for my class in school. It’s due at 11 pm tomorrow night, and I have been tearing my hair out over it for the past few days, but I can’t get any further with it. I am so frustrated, and I just can’t see the benefit of continuing to try at this point, when I know I am not going to be able to complete it…

You state that you are unable to go further with it from this point. Then turn it in as is for some possible points. Easier said than done, but you have to stop stressing over something you absolutely can’t complete.

Please implement a Registration system to manipulate student and registration records. Data records are stored in a database which is maintained by a server-side database management system. You may use Microsoft Access or a database system of your choice.
Each Course record consists of:
Course Number, Max. Enrollment, Current Enrollment
At the minimum, the Student record should consist of: ID, Last Name, First Name
This program performs the following tasks:
1. To add student records to the Student database table
2. To enroll students in classes (add records to Course database table)
3. To withdraw students from classes (delete records from Course database table)
4. To display the list of classes which are currently available for registration
5. To display the class schedule for a given student
All database operations must be performed by a server-side program.
The client-side program is a GUI-based program. 5 points will be taken off, if the client-side program is NOT a GUI program.

Would your professor be willing to use this partially completed project as a way of setting up a tutorial with him, to both find some creative solution and to enable you to learn some new techniques of problem-solving?

This is very abstract language, I know, but I have no idea what you are actually working on.

@gailcalled…it’s computer programming (see above your response). The professor has been decidedly unhelpful all semester, so I don’t see that as a viable solution. I have numerous books, and plan to brush up on my skills before school starts again the last week of August. I just don’t like giving up…it is not in my nature…but in this case, I feel like I could better spend time on something else…

@gailcalled…if they do, I’m not aware. But since the project is due tomorrow, I don’t think I would have time to set up anything with anybody, regardless…I’m not even sure the tutoring center is open on Saturdays…

This will probably not be at all helpful but I had an experience myself where I was absolutely daunted by an assignment, had no idea where I was going to even start, and I had a conversation with somebody in the class and she said something that opened the window just a crack and from there it was not hard to push it fully open, I ended up with a very high mark for the assignment and thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing it, mind you, I had way more than 27 hours up my sleeve to complete it.

I’d take a step away for a bit (maybe get some sleep), then take another look at it before turning it in. Perhaps a break away may help you get some idea of a new approach for it or a new idea to add to it.

@yankeetooter then you have to continue, right? I mean if it is a class project, aren’t you going to lose marks, fail etc.? If you don’t have another choice, then I say get refreshed, get some sleep, and then continue. If you give now, up for sure you will lose.

@Seaofclouds…Great idea…but I have done this the past few nights, and no more ideas seem to be forthcoming…

@flo…crazy thing is I have already earned 80/100 possible points for the class. As l long as I submit something, I should receive a B. I am just so frustrated that I can’t get any further.

@Adagio…we are not supposed to discuss the project with our classmates, plus, I don’t have a way of contacting them. One point of frustration I have in my life is that I have no one to talk to about my new love (computer programming). I agree that often just hashing over the problem with someone will spark an idea for a solution…but there is no one who fits that role right now…

If you’re truly certain nothing will get done if you keep working, then don’t bother. But I’m certainly familiar with those “aha!” moments that can appear from nowhere while programming.

I know, for me, that if I stopped working I would just be sitting thinking about it and probably feeling equally, if not more, stressed as if I were still working, so quitting wouldn’t really benefit me. But if you think you can get your mind off it, go for it.

I really do understand this impasse. Can’t help you with specifics (sorry) but try to back-burner it. Do something entirely unrelated for a few hours and sleep. Sometimes the answers come when you aren’t actively looking for them.

I do realize you have few hours to spare, but you’re already at frustration level and if you have no other good options….

@Blueroses…thanks. I know you’re right, it’s just that at this point I am running out of hours to spend taking a break from it. I have tried this method in the past with some success, but I have so much more to do with the project, that I don’t know if I would get done even so. I am just mentally exhausted and ready to give up, I guess.

This won’t help you for this class, but when you start back, make friends or form a study group in your computer programming classes. Even if they are much younger than you, you will have your love of programming to bring you together. Don’t wait for someone else to suggest this, just ask a few people and get something started yourself. Good luck!

@Blueroses does have a point, sometimes after beating my head against the wall for hours with a problem, if I come back at it fresh just a little while later, the answer just pops out at me. I understand you’re feeling low on time, but getting refreshed might really accelerate your pace.

I would break it out into a list of tasks and deliverables. I.e., there are a number of tables to build. There are a number of functions to build. There are a number of linkages to make.

Create a list of what you need to do. That’s your task list. Start with the first item and build it. Do the minimum possible for each task. So a student table might only have first and last name. Or maybe only ID number.

Build your tables.

Build your functions

Build your GUI.

Link everything together.

Really, this can be done in the time you have available, assuming this is not the first time you have done any of these things. Even if it is the first time, I expect that you can read a manual or whatever book you have for the course, and you’ll find instructions on how to do all this. It is basic stuff. I’m sure you can do it in the time allotted—and have time left over to sleep. In fact, I’d do some work. Get well into it. Then sleep. Then finish it. You’ll do much more after you sleep than before, but you need to bang your head against the wall first for long enough to see some progress before you can feel ok about sleeping. So it goes.

If my grade could take the hit, I’d pack it up. I treasure my sanity way too much.
I’d gather everything I had and get it ready for turn in. Then I’d light some smell good candles, have a glass of ice cold Mike’s and just relax awhile.
I don’t think it’s about giving up, or admitting defeat. It’s about simply accepting that I’ve done all I could.

@wundayatta…I tried all that. I had the GUI’s basically built, but when I try to populate the JLIsts in the GUI’s using the databases, and a client/server network, nothing works. I stopped making any progress days ago…the rest of the time I have just been spinning my wheels…and getting more and more depressed…and starting to question my choice of majors. That depresses me even more, because I really love programming…I want to do it more than anything in the world…and if I can’t succeed….

This is exactly where you stop. Go do something else. You know what has to be done and you’ve reached your edge. Part of your mind will still be working the problem, but you have to stop focusing on it. It gets more and more stymied, as you try.

You never know when the answer will come to you. I fretted for hours over a problem; finally said fuck-it, had a beer or two, and out of nothing related, something clicked and I solved it elegantly.

Break it down into smaller parts. Your GUIs work. What’s the next step? Do it for one GUI. Figure out where the problem lies through a logical process of elimination. I’m not telling you ideas about what to do so that you can follow my ideas. I’m giving them to you as examples of how to think about it. You’ve got to take these ideas and apply them to your situation, which only you understand.

Right now, you are telling just about everyone that you’ve already thought of that and it didn’t work. This attitude is killing you. Hopefully you will be able to be more constructive after you sleep.

That’s a next step! It’s always good to generate something new to try. It can also be good to go back and try things again. Many times, that has worked for me, although I cannot tell you why. Somehow things are different, I guess. It works now, even though you thought you already tried it.

I would invest the time in writing a detailed summary of your efforts to accomplish this task. Itemize your actions to complete the assignment in the allotted time. Then summarize what you observe as the obstacle(s) to why you were unable to complete the assignment. Be specific and honest.

You will face many tasks in the real world where something that is asked of you is just not possible and bring attention to this fact to the person expecting it done is then now alerted that changes in the assignments goals have to be made for a successful conclusion.

Highlight the strengths of your efforts and your weaknesses as well. Your teacher/professor may appreciate this extra effort. Either way it will be a good practice for you so next time a ball busting project comes your way you may have learned something to better prepare you to tackle the new problem.

I’d work my ass off on this problem and know I did my best than simply fold tent early and settle for a B.

Take a long shower and try not to think about anything specific. For some reason (have read it is a combo os water and white noise among other things) it is a good place for subconscious brainstorming. You need to do something that requires no thought so your mind can do its thing in the background. You know how sometimes you zone out while driving? Same idea.